Ashes
by DragonGTN
Summary: AU Mother dead in childbirth, Percy was given into the care of Daedalus, who prepares him for life as a demigod. Athena appears and gives him a mission to watch four demigods going on supposedly the most important quest the world has ever known. But as his quest continues, he begins to question who he really is. Secrets are abroad among the group, and he may have the darkest of all
1. 1: Found

Ashes

Chapter 1: Found

Percy's sword spun through the air, whirling and humming before meeting with a clang the blade of his teacher, Daedalus. Daedalus grunted and took a half-step back from Percy, who immediately took advantage and launched a kick at his shins, followed by an elbow to the side of the head. Daedalus dropped, sword falling just out of reach. Percy held his sword to his throat. "Yield?" he asked inquiringly.

Daedalus grinned. "Not quite yet." With almost no warning, he swung his legs up and hit Percy in the gut. He staggered backwards, doubled over. Daedalus rolled to his feet, sword in hand. He lunged forward, but Percy had recovered by now, and with a shake of his wrist, a shield appeared in time to block the blow. Releasing his hold on it, the shield vanished, and he swung a quick blow towards Daedalus's side. Daedalus just barely managed to slip away from the blade and spin around, smacking Percy in the back of the head with the pommel. Percy stumbled forward, but he had expected the attack. He turned his stumble into a roll, throwing himself backwards and under Daedalus, who tripped and fell flat on his face. Percy planted a foot into between his shoulder blades and held to sword next to his neck.

"Now do you yield?" he asked again. Daedalus chuckled.

"You got me this time, Percy." He said. "I yield." Percy stepped away and helped Daedalus to his feet.

"Good, because I was beginning to think I'd have to take your sword-arm in order for you to stop." Percy joked.

Daedalus laughed. "I don't know if you would really be good enough to do that, Percy." He said, sheathing his fallen sword.

"You'd be surprised." Percy replied.

"Oh, I bet I would. Seems like that sword and shield are working really well." Percy let go of his sword, and it vanished inches away from the floor. Tapping his pointer and middle fingers together, the blade reappeared in his hands, followed by his shield due to a shake of his wrist.

"You bet. Ingenious work, Daedalus." The old man grinned.

"That's nothing, boy. I once made a Rubix cube that turned into a massive war hammer. I think the owner still has it, actually."

Percy sat down, looking around the small workshop in Chicago where they lived. His mother had died in childbirth, and the goddess Athena had found him when he was eight and on the run from a Sphinx. She had given him to Daedalus to care for, who had trained him in the art of swordsmanship. Ever since his sixteenth birthday, which was a year and a half ago, he had felt something important. A yearning, and the sense that he had missed something huge. Everyone had heard about the freak storm that blew into New York, but no one knew what to think. But when that storm died…it seemed like something else died inside of Percy as well.

Shaking his head, he pulled his mind away from such unpleasant thoughts. After a moment, he spoke up. "Daedalus, what happened to your old workshop?" he asked.

The old man froze. "I told you already, Percy, while you were away chasing that Cyclops, I dropped a match on a project, and then the whole place went up in flames."

"Daedalus, I _know_ that isn't what really happened. There were dust motes of monsters in there, and a scrap of cloth that looked like it came from a shirt."

Daedalus sighed, turning his head away from Percy. "I guess I should tell you." He said reluctantly. "A couple of demigods like you were on a quest. It took them through the Labyrinth, and eventually they found me. The Titan Kronos was rising, and they needed my help to stop his armies. But it was too late. They had arrived, and at my shop. The demigods tried to fight them, but they were too few. I set the shop to explode, and got them out of there. I myself barely made it out alive. The Labyrinth began collapsing, and I had to leave. A year later, a great battle was fought in New York, and Kronos fell. So they must have made it out."

"And you came here." Percy finished. Daedalus nodded. Percy clasped his hands together. "So…so I'm not alone."

Daedalus looked up. "What?"

"All my life, I've thought I was the only demigod on this continent. You've trained me, helped me, sheltered me, but I've never met anyone who was really like me. I always wondered if I was the only half-blood. And you kept this from me?" Daedalus looked ashamed.

"It was only to protect you. If you ran off any time before now, Death would have claimed you. I couldn't let that happen."

"Any time before now?" Percy said, standing up. Daedalus winced at his mistake.

"I didn't mean-." He began, but Percy cut him off.

"Any time before now?" he repeated.

Daedalus sighed and hung his head. "Yes. You are…ready, now." Percy turned away. "Where are you going?" Daedalus asked.

"To find those other demigods." Percy said. Daedalus groaned.

"No, Percy, you don't understand. You _can't_ go, not now."

"You just said I was ready." Percy retorted.

"You don't know yet! Athena told me-!"

"Athena?" Percy said, spinning around to face him. "What does Athena have to do with this?"

"Athena delivered you to my care. She told me to watch over you until…." He trailed off, his eyes shifting to behind Percy.

"Until what?" Percy asked. Upon finding no response, he followed Daedalus's view and blinked in surprise, stumbling backwards. A woman, wrapped in soft glowing white robes, stood before him. "Who are you?" Percy asked.

The woman looked him straight in the eyes, and instantly he knew. "Athena." He whispered, dropping to his knees.

"Oh please, Perseus, stand up." The woman said, waving her hand in an irritated manner. "All this kneeling really wears on you after a few millennia." Percy scrambled to his feet, bumping into Daedalus, who jumped and grunted oddly.

"Why have you come, goddess?" he asked formally.

"You have done a good job on his etiquette, I see." Athena remarked to Daedalus.

"I did my best, Athena." He said, grinning.

Athena turned to face him. "Percy, I have come to give you a mission." Waving her hand, and glowing image appeared in front of her. Four kids rode on the back of what looked like to be a dragon. Strangely, it seemed to be metal. "These four demigods are going to embark on one of the most dangerous quests known to man tomorrow. They will need you to shadow them, and help them when necessary. For there will be a time where they will need your blade to shelter them."

The image vanished, and her voice gained intensity. "The giant king Porphyrion rises, and has captured the queen of the gods. They go to free her. But you must help them, or all will be lost."

Percy blinked. "Giant king?"

Athena continued, unperturbed. "What happened in the old is happening again, and you are the key. They ride north to find the wind. Go now, Perseus Jackson, or all will be lost."

Percy shook his head slightly. "Wait, what? Where are they? What's the wind? _Who _are they?" But she just winked once at Daedalus and vanished. Percy stared at the spot where she had disappeared. "Well that didn't help." He said to the air.

"Well, champ, now you finally get to meet some of your friends." Daedalus said, grinning slightly. Percy glanced over at him.

"Oh, shut up." He grumbled. He began searching around for supplies for the "quest", all the while grumbling uncomplimentary things about the gods and them being unnecessarily mysterious.

"I have an idea of where to start looking." Daedalus offered. Percy didn't answer, still muttering. "Try Quebec, in Canada." Percy looked up in surprise. "They ride north to find the wind, which must mean the North Wind, Boreas." Daedalus explained. "He's…living in Quebec now." Percy nodded, smiling, and then continued his search.

"Percy." Daedalus said. When Percy looked up, Daedalus was holding a backpack. "It's got everything you need for your journey." Percy took the pack and looked inside, blinking in shock at the contents. Ambrosia, nectar, a map, a big wad of cash, explosive knives, smoke grenades, small washers that turned into razor-edged discuses when held just right….Daedalus was right; it was everything he'd need. Looking up, he saw a proud look on the old man's face, but a look of sadness, too.

Dropping the pack, Percy stood and embraced Daedalus in a bear hug. Daedalus squeezed him back. Ever since he was little, Daedalus had been a father to him; he'd watched over him, fed him, trained him, and now Percy was leaving. He pulled away from him, though reluctantly. Daedalus put a hand on his shoulder. "I'll miss you Percy." He said quietly.

"I'll miss you to." Percy said.

Daedalus pulled out the map. "It's enchanted." He explained. "It will show you where you ask it to led you, and will show you your current location and how to get there as well." Percy held it, examining it closely.

After a moment, he said, "Show me Boreas's home." A small dot glowed to life in the middle of Quebec. Another showed him in Chicago, and a red line drew itself from Chicago to Boreas.

"Will you take Arion?" Daedalus asked. Percy nodded. Daedalus exhaled slowly. "Well good luck then." He said. Percy nodded again, unable to speak. Shouldering the pack, he went to the back of the workshop, in an alley. Taking out a brass whistle, he blew three sharp, piercing notes on it, only able to be heard by the sounder and the summoned. A minute or so later, a blur shot into the alley, stopping in front of him. The proud stallion stood in front of him, tossing his mane and stomping his hoof. He bent his head for Percy to stroke.

"Hey Arion, good to see you again." He said, hand on Arion's nose. The horse whickered in response, and his voice rang in Percy's head. _'Sup, Perce._ Percy grinned and hoisted himself up on Arion's back.

_Take me to Boreas's palace in Quebec._ Percy said. Arion snorted and shook his head, eyes rolling to face him. _What do you want with that grumpy old geezer, man?_ He asked.

_It's not what I want, it's what they want_. He responded.

_Whatever you say, dude._ Arion reared, and then they were shooting off through the city, speeding north towards Boreas and Percy's four charges.

**Line Break**

Luke sat on the back of the dragon, which Leo had named Festus. He did his best not to look down. "Are you sure this thing is safe?" he asked. Leo grinned insolently at him.

"'Course it's safe, bro. But hey, if we end up plummeting a few thousand feet to our deaths, you have my permission to kill me." Piper punched his arm.

"Shut up, Leo." She said. Annabeth snickered in front of him. Luke felt for his sword, hanging by his waste.

"You know, for a guy who rode a giant pig in the battle for Olympus, it seems kind of odd that you're scared of heights." Leo continued. Piper and Annabeth frowned at his back. Luke gritted his teeth.

"Shove off, Valdez. First of all, it was _not_ my idea to ride the pig, and second, that was only fifty feet or so above the ground. This is…different."

Leo chuckled. "All right man, chill. Just thought it was kind of odd, that's all." They fell into an uncomfortable silence. Finally, Piper spoke up, just to change the subject.

"Remind me why we're going to find the North Wind again? In the middle of Canada, no less." She said.

Luke replied, "We need to find those storm spirits, and who better to ask than an air god?" Short and sweet. Piper nodded, and they lapsed into silence again.

Finally, Leo said, "You guys get some sleep. I'll wake you when we reach Boreas's place." Piper nodded reluctantly and leaned forward, resting against his back. She was snoring quietly within minutes. Annabeth leaned back against Luke, eyes drifting shut. Luke put his arms around her, and she muttered something to him, but she too was asleep almost instantly. But Luke felt too awake to sleep. And his sleep was never good.

"Luke, you've had a rough day, and you're only seventeen. Sleep would do you a lot of good." Luke tried to shake his head, but it was as if Leo's words had shut off his brain. He drooped forward over Annabeth and was soon asleep.

He was shut in a dark room. Not even a sliver of light penetrated under the door, the door he could feel. Backing away, he kept his eyes fixed on the spot where the door should be. He kept expecting to bump into the wall any second, but it never happened, just as he was turning around, he took another step and dropped.

Luke plummeted, seemingly forever. Eventually, it felt like he was floating rather than falling. Then he became aware of another force, another entity nearby. "Leave me alone!" he yelled, reaching for his sword. But it wasn't there. A dark voice laughed, slowly, from all around him.

"You are mine, Luke Castellan, and you can't escape." It said. Luke snarled.

"You have no hold on me! I have broken from your control." He yelled, defying the shadowy being.

"You cannot break away from me, demigod. I had a grip on you once, and I can and will take one again." The being rumbled.

Luke cursed at the darkness. "I did what you wanted. Why are you still here?"

The shadow laughed. "Because you did not do all of what I wanted. You will help me again, or else…." A vision appeared, unbidden, in Luke's mind. Fire rolled over the world, destroying everything he knew. Giants strode across it, enslaving all that lived. The gods were cast down to Tartarus. And a sinister face ruled behind it all.

"Noooo!" Luke yelled. With a start, he jerked awake, shivering. Leo was looking over his shoulder at him.

"You cool, bro?" he asked, cracking a grin. Luke put a hand to the long scar that Ladon had given him, along his cheek. It burned with renewed vigor. Wincing, he dropped his hand. That always happened when the shadow spoke to him. "Yeah." He said, trying to control his breathing.

"Well it's about to get a lot cooler!" Leo said, grinning. Piper woke with a start, looking around wildly. Annabeth muttered something and slowly opened her eyes. Luke hastily removed his arms. "Welcome to Quebec, people." Leo said. They looked around to see the snow-ridden land a blur beneath them. "And Boreas's place is just ahead." He added, waving towards a palace that was rapidly coming into view.

Then they saw two purple-winged angels coming towards them, and Luke had a bad feeling that they would not receive a warm reception from the North Wind.


	2. 2: Cold Receptions

Chapter 2: Cold North

The purple-winged angels stopped near them, and Leo pulled Festus up short. One was dressed in a hockey uniform and had a nasty, beat-up face that was missing many teeth. The other looked like he could have come from some eighties band, like some love god. They carried swords with blades of razor ice, and Luke felt that those wouldn't be as easily broken.

"Why have you come to Boreas's palace?" The love angel said.

"Destroy!" The hockey jock said in agreement, hefting his sword. Leo held up his hands.

"Woah, dude, easy with the whole 'destroy' talk there. We just have a question to ask of Lord Boreas." He said.

The jock looked hopeful, but the love guy was frowning at the four passengers. "We have a 'no-unscheduled-flights-allowed' policy, folks." He said. Then his eyes fell on Piper.

She gulped nervously. "Please, we…we must see Lord Boreas, Master of Cold and the North." Luke thought the flattery was a little cheesy, but the love guy didn't think so.

"You are pretty…." He said, half to himself. Piper almost threw up. Then he stopped, staring at them hard. "I smell fire." The hockey guy growled.

"Fire bad!" he exclaimed, waving his sword around as if to prove it.

"It's urgent! Hera herself sent us on this quest." Piper said. The jock looked sad.

"No destroy?" he asked.

The other angel ignored him. "How do we really know Hera sent you on this quest, eh?" he asked, peering at them intently.

Luke sat straight, looking him in the eye. "Think about it. You could be right, which would mean you'd be safe. Or you could be wrong, and for which, hindering her quest, Hera could destroy you on the spot, and you'd spend the next few centuries in a body under a whole lot of pain. It's about a fifty-fifty chance if you ask me." He said in a flat tone. A single drop of sweat leaked from the angel's forehead.

"You bring up a good point." He said. With a glance at Piper, he said, "And she is very pretty…." Then he sighed. "Alright, I suppose you can come in. I am Zethes, and this is my brother, Calais, but you can call him Cal. He is unable to pronounce words with more than two syllables, so you might have some trouble understanding him."

"Pizza! Hockey! Destroy!" Cal said excitedly.

"Follow me." Zethes said, and the two angels turned and flew towards the roof. Leo steered Festus to follow them. It seemed like they'd run into the roof, but at the last moment, it slid open to reveal an opening Festus could easily slip through. Luke glanced nervously at Annabeth. But before he could say anything, they were inside, and the panel slid shut. They slid off the back of Festus, who snorted and blew a gout of flames into the frosty air. "Hey, now," Zethes reprimanded, "you'll have to deactivate him. We can't have that thing burning our penthouse down, now can we." Festus growled and whirred his teeth.

"Careful, man, he doesn't like that word." Leo said, moving to kneel next to the dragon's left hind leg.

"What are you doing?" Annabeth asked.

Leo kept moving his arm around the inside of Festus's leg. "While I was fixing this bad boy," he explained while he worked, "I found a number of buttons around Festus. There should be one…aha!" He clicked something and withdrew his hand. Festus shuddered and began retracting in on itself, metal plates sliding under each other. When it was finished, a solid metal box half the size of Leo sat there. "Cool, right?" Leo said.

"Hold it!" Zethes exclaimed, pressing his sword against Leo's chest. Luke moved, drawing his sword and lifting it to Zethes, but Cal's blade stopped his. Luke decided to leave it there. For now. "I still smell the fire." Zethes growled.

Leo held up his hands. "The dragon is still radiating heat, man. It ain't my fault." He said. Zethes shook his head.

"No…it seems to be coming from you." Zethes said, pushing Leo backwards with the tip of his sword. Leo looked terrified for a split second, but it vanished quickly.

"I was working on the dragon, so some of its fire smell rubbed off on me." Leo explained hastily. Zethes slowly removed his sword from Leo's chest, thought he watched Leo cautiously. Cal also put away his sword. Leo breathed a sigh of relief and rubbed at the spot where Zethes's sword had been. Luke put his own blade away, though had his hand near it just in case.

"Well, now that that's over with, we can all go see my father now." A voice said from the stairs at the end of the suite, and as one they all looked over. A regal, proud and coldly beautiful woman floated a few steps up. She had incredibly pale skin and a pure white dress, the color of snow. Luke instantly knew she was deadly. "Follow me." She said, turning and beginning to ascend the stairs. Zethes prodded them forward, and suddenly Luke was nervous that they might never leave.

Leo tried to follow, but Zethes turned on him. "Oh no, demigod. You stay down here." He said. Leo started to protest, but Luke caught his eye and shook his head. Frowning, Leo took a seat on Festus. "Cal, if you would?" Zethes said. Cal wandered over and stood in front of Leo. Luke and the others turned and reluctantly followed Khione up the stairs.

"I am Khione, the goddess of snow." She said over her shoulder as they climbed. No one said a word. They reached the throne room of Boreas, and Luke temporarily forgot what they were doing. Many ice sculptures were scattered around the room, and it was very misty. The room was long enough that he couldn't see all the way across. They followed the snow princess until the mist parted and they could see Boreas. He sat on the throne in a stylish white suit that seemed to be woven out of snow. His beard was littered with icicles, and his eyes had a merry twinkle to them.

His eyes widened when he saw Luke. "Well, well, boy." He said, the twinkle disappearing. "You've finally returned." Luke blinked in surprise.

"What?" he asked, confused. Khione hissed quietly and backed away, and suddenly he couldn't feel Zethes's blade anymore.

Boreas rolled his eyes. "Don't insult me, Luke. I'm surprised you had the nerve to return." He said icily.

Luke looked at Piper and Annabeth, but they looked as confused as he did. "I'm sorry, Lord Boreas, but I don't know what you're talking about." He said. Boreas snorted.

"No, I figured you wouldn't." He leaned forward, peering closely at Luke. "Zethes, this is him, isn't it?" he asked.

Luke could sense rather than see Zethes nodding. "Same voice and scar, father." He said. Boreas reclined back onto his throne.

"You truly don't remember anything, boy?" he asked.

"Your Majesty, I have no idea what you're talking about, I swear." Luke said. "Have I offended you in some way?" Boreas remained silent, intensely studying his face.

"Come here." He said, beckoning with a finger. Nervously, Luke stepped directly under the throne. Boreas leaned so close Luke was afraid for a moment he'd bash him with his beard. Then something odd happened: Boreas seemed to _sniff_ him.

The god threw himself backwards, roaring with laughter. Luke stepped back to join his friends. They looked more confused than he did. When the god was finished, he wiped away a few tears from his eyes, flicking them away, and they instantly froze and shattered against the floor. "Hera had something to do with this, I bet." He said, chuckling.

"Sir, I'm still confused." Luke said. Boreas grinned.

"Oh, I'll bet you are." He said. "She plays a dangerous game, that one." Annabeth stepped forward.

"Lord Boreas, we have a question to ask of you." She said. Boreas frowned slightly.

"So, information is what you've come for? Well information I have…probably. Fire away, my girl!" he said. A feral glint was in his eyes now.

"We need to find the storm spirits who attacked the demigods at the Grand Canyon." She said.

"Ah, those storm spirits. Yes, you'll find them in Chicago, the windy city." He said, as if it made no difference to him. Khione made a sound of protest, but Boreas silenced her with a freezing glance. "But be warned, Luke Castellan. You will most likely meet your death there." The glint was back in his eyes. "Oh, a very dangerous game indeed." He said, half to himself.

"Thank you, Lord Boreas." Annabeth said.

"It was nothing. Leave us, demigods. Enjoy your life, because it won't last long." He said. Khione led them away, but the god's vile laughter followed them.

**Line Break**

Percy stopped Arion a mile or so away from Boreas's palace. It was just in sight, the very top. But he wasn't paying attention to the building. He was paying attention of the dragon flying nearby.

The purple-winged angels had stopped them, and were talking for a few minutes. Then the angels turned and began flying towards the roof. A panel opened, and they went inside. Percy considered his next move.

He could follow them inside, or he could wait until they left and follow them then. Unconsciously, he summoned Ashrow, his blade. Frowning at the peak of the building, he made his decision. But just as he was about to tell Arion to go, something caught his ear. Not knowing what it was, he hurled himself off of the horse's back. Something sharp grazed his shoulder. He landed hard on the snow, rolling to a crouch. Arion reared, said _Oh, shit!_, and bolted. Percy cursed mentally. His eyes roamed the trees in front of him for the threat. Instinct saved his life.

He threw himself into a roll to the right just before three spikes could impale him. They shot out of the dark snowy woods like bullets. He summoned his shield and held it up just in time to stop another round of spikes. Grunting, he took a few steps backwards. The next one knocked him off his feet.

Rolling behind a tree, he stood, panting. A spike hit the edge, nicking off a slice of bark. Percy spotted another tree with a small hollow underneath it. Taking a deep breath, he threw himself into a roll and went for the tree. He slid the last few feet, just narrowly missing getting killed by those spikes. "I've been expecting you, Jackson." A deep, feral voice growled. "You can't hide from me." The voice was coming closer. Percy summoned his sword and got ready. Suddenly, there was no dirt behind his back, and he went tumbling into a tunnel under the tree. He watched in shock and dismay as the dirt closed off the way out. Here heard the manticore's voice right outside the tunnel. "Where have you gone, boy?" Holding his breath, he heard soft footsteps pad away outside the tunnel. Then he climbed up the slope to the dirt wall. Pushing did nothing. Throwing his shoulder against it was about as effective as throwing a tennis ball against a brick wall.

He slid down the slope on the last try. Angrily, he summoned Ashrow. Climbing again, he pushed with the blade. Not expecting it to work, he was surprised at the dirt falling away as soon as the blade touched. Mystified, he stepped out. And dropped, swearing almost inaudibly. Looking around the corner of the tree, he saw a man standing in the small clearing, maybe eight feet across, with a spiked tail sticking out from his rear end. The man stopped, sniffing the air. "I smell you, demigod." He hissed.

As quietly as he could, Percy dug around in his pack, finally retrieving a smoke canister. _Here goes nothing._ He thought, pulling the pin and lobbing it. It exploded right under the manticore's feet.

Percy summoned his sword and shield and ran towards the smoke. The manticore was coughing inside of it. Jumping high, Percy prepared to deliver a brutal downward killing stroke. But the smoke cleared just enough for the manticore to make out his shape.

Quick as lightning, it turned, lashing out with its tail. Percy shifted his shield to catch the spiked end, but ended up flat on his back in the snow. Temporarily breathless, he rolled to the left to avoid the tail. Leaping to his feet, he ducked under a swing from the beast and stabbed at its thigh. Amazingly, he hit it.

The manticore roared and backhanded him across the face, sending Percy stumbling backwards. The tail bristled, and then the spikes were shooting straight towards him. Raising his shield, he managed to catch most of the spikes, but one skipped off the edge and hit his shoulder.

Pain shot down his arm, and Percy suddenly couldn't lift his shield. Dropping it, he ran and threw himself in a roll at the last moment to the side. Coming up, he saw the manticore starting to turn, but it was too late. Percy's sword bit into its side, and the manticore howled, stumbling away from him. Clutching its side, it glared at him with pure hate. Then it began to transform.

The face stayed the same, but the suit melted into his body, which turned golden and furry. Its arms turned into forelegs equipped with razor-sharp claws, and when it grinned evilly, it showed row after row of needle-like teeth. "Time to die." It snarled, and leaped. Percy considered holding his sword in the air on the fairly high chance that in would impale itself, but thought better of it. Instead, he stepped to the side, shield ready. His assumption was correct.

The manticore's tail bashed into his shield, which brought a hiss of pain from the monster. Before it could react, Percy swung his sword, catching it in the back of the leg. He was bowled over by a large paw in response. The manticore had his shield crushed up against his chest, holding him in place of the ground. The monster opened its mouth to deliver the killing blow. And Percy struck.

Ashrow went straight up its mouth and down its throat. The manticore gasped, choked, and promptly fell over dead before melting into a pile of ash. Percy climbed shakily to his feet. Daedalus had sent him on training missions to hunt down monsters, and he'd faced some pretty tough, nasty ones, but never before had he come so close to death like he had just then.

A small noise made him look up in time to see the dragon flying away. Percy cursed and pulled out his whistle. A second after blowing it, Arion appeared, looking around nervously. _Thanks for the help_. Percy said, swinging himself onto Arion's back.

_Sorry, dude. Hellhounds, Laistrygonians, sphinxes and all can handle. But manticores…no way, man. You can't get to frickin' fight a manticore, not if my life depended on it._ Arion paused, cocking his head. _Well, actually I would if there was no other option, but yeah._ Percy grunted.

_Come on. Follow that dragon._ He raised his arm and pointed.

_On it, chief._ Arion responded, stamping his hoof. He shot off, eyes locked on the metal dragon flying high above.

It was nighttime when they reached Detroit. Percy looked around them and realized he couldn't see the dragon anymore. "Damn it!" he said aloud. "Arion, we lost them!"

_Nah, Perce,_ Arion said, _I could tell by their course they were headed here. We'll just wait 'em out._

"If you say so. But if you really lost them, Arion…." Percy never finished. His eyes were drawn to the yard around them. "Where are we?"

_It's a place where a crap-ton of warehouses are. They got a ton of 'em here._ Arion said. Percy looked around, seeing a flash of movement.

"Did you see that?" he asked uneasily. Arion turned his head. Before he could respond, a rope lashed around Arion's neck, and another around Percy's hand, yanking him off Arion. Arion whinnied in anger, then froze when his captor appeared.

_Oh, frick. Amazons!_ He said. Sure enough, near a dozen Amazon warriors stepped from behind warehouses and junk piles. One held the rope around Percy's hands. She gave it a tug, and Percy threw his arms the other way, trying to get the rope from her hands. No such luck. Hearing footsteps behind him, he turned around and sidestepped a sword slash from an Amazon and kicked her in the stomach. Grunting, she swung again. Percy lifted his roped hands and the blade severed the connection to the other Amazon. She cursed, but Percy smacked her with a two-handed backhand, spinning her around and dropping her to the ground.

His hands were still bound together, but he skipped away from a spear thrust and rammed the Amazon with his shoulder. She stumbled backwards, fighting to remain upright. Percy whirled around and managed to catch the haft of another spear aiming for his chest. Wrenching it from the warrior's hands, he swung it, but the rope prevented easy maneuvering, and she evaded it easily. Taking the spear back, she tried to bait him. Instead, Percy took a step backwards.

He hadn't realized that another Amazon had come up behind him. Ducking around the pommel of her sword, he threw his shoulder into her gut, knocking her off of her feet. Unfortunately, Percy fell as well. He could here Arion whinnying angrily, but paid no mind. The Amazon was unconscious, or at least stunned; either way she wasn't a problem for a while. Rolling onto his back, he lashed out with his foot and knocked another Amazon over. He struggled to his feet and looked up just in time to see the haft of a spear connect solidly with his face. Grunting, he staggered backwards. He launched an all-out assault on the Amazon, raining blows as best he could. She managed to shove him off, where he received the pommel of a sword to the back of his head.

Spinning, he held up his hand and pulled as hard as he could on the rope. The Amazon's sword cut right through it. Her eyes widened, but Percy wasted no time in delivering a fist to the eye and a knee to the ribs. She dropped, gasping for air. Turning his head, he prepared to fend off more of the warriors, but something hard struck him in the temple, and he sank to the ground, semi-conscious. "Take him." He heard a woman say, and darkness washed over him.


	3. 3: Escape

Chapter 3: Escape

Percy opened his eyes slowly, stifling a groan. There was a knot on the side of his head, and his nose ached fiercely. His side stung a little as well, where one of the Amazons must have got a cut in.

His eyes snapped open fully, and he sat up quickly, which made his head spin. He lay back down unsteadily. Looking around him, he saw golden bars in a circle. Realization hit him like a hammer to the gut, and he groaned again, this time not bothering to try and hide it. He was in a cage.

Someone tapped the bars lightly, then called out, "He's awake!" Percy sat up again, but much slower. He managed to stay upright that time. An Amazon warrior stood outside the cage, peering down at him. Her spear was propped up against the wall nearby.

Percy frowned. "All that trouble to capture me and you just lean your weapons on the freakin' wall? Gee, rub it in, why don't you." He grumbled, climbing unsteadily to his feet. The Amazon blushed and picked up her spear. Then she seemed to realize what she had done and frowned at herself. Dropping the spear, she fingered her knife like she might want to use it.

Percy glanced around. It looked like they were inside some sort of warehouse. A catwalk criss-crossed over the top, which was where he was. Boxes littered the floor, some small, others as big as a truck. A bunch of Amazon warriors were seated in the center of the warehouse. They seemed to be having some sort of meeting.

Abruptly it dawned on Percy that there were more than the dozen that had attacked him. Looking down, he estimated there were at least thirty women there, all trained warriors. Whistling, he looked at his captor. "Aren't you guys supposed to be based in Seattle?" he asked.

She frowned. "How did you-never mind. You demigods always were the nosy type."

Percy snorted. "That's _exactly_ what you guys said the last time you caged me up." The Amazon blinked.

"What?" she said. She looked at him intently. "You do look familiar," she said disbelievingly.

Percy nodded, wondering if she'd remember. Apparently not, because she kept that same blank look. "It was two years ago. I was passing by to go kill a…" he waited for her to finish. Nothing. Percy sighed. "Sea monster?" he prompted. She still didn't recognize him. "Yeesh." Percy said, shaking his head. "I've gotta' work on my impressions."

Then she realized she wasn't really looking at him; she was looking _through_ him. Percy reached a hand through the bars and snapped his fingers under her nose. "Hey!" he said. She started, jerking upright.

"What?" she asked.

Percy sighed. "Glad to have you back, Sleepy." He muttered. The Amazon narrowed her eyes at him. Percy leaned against the wall of the cage as far away from her as possible. He watched her watching him for a few seconds, then began looking around some more, thinking, _Gods, this is really awkward_. After a few minutes, he said, "So…how 'bout that weather today?" She stared at him like he was some sort of retarded monkey. "Just trying to make conversation." He said.

"Really?" she responded, arching one eyebrow. Percy whistled.

"How do you do that?" he asked.

She looked really confused. "What?"

Percy pointed at her forehead. "Raise your eyebrow like that. I never could figure out how to do it." Scrunching his eyes, he tried to copy her, but failed. She stared at him, a bit worriedly. "Not gonna tell me?" Percy said after giving up. She shook her head. Percy frowned. "Gods, talk about boring." He said, half to himself, then raised his voice.

"Yo, Amazons!" All thirty turned instantly and stared up at him. "I need a new guard up here! This one is really boring!" he called down. The guard reached a hand inside the cage and tried to hit him, but missed. "And she's abusive!" he added.

A small round of laughter ran through the women. About half of them disappeared, walking under the catwalk. A minute later, they appeared off the left from behind a big stack of crates. The one in front was obviously their leader. Percy could tell by the way she carried herself, so full of confidence, so sure that her orders would be obeyed. But there was also an air of taking orders as well. So not the Queen. That sucked. Hylla knew him, and Percy wished she were here. He could use a friendly face about now.

The Amazons stopped in front of his cage. "Any trouble?" the leader asked.

"He tried to get me to show him how to raise one eyebrow. That's about it." The guard responded. The leader nodded and turned to him. After an intense study lasting about ten seconds, she said, "You look awfully familiar."

Percy nodded. "I know." He hoped maybe this one remembered him better. No such luck. "Do you remember me? I was on my way to kill a…." he used the same prompt he had used for the guard, with the same result. "Sea monster." Percy finished. "You guys locked me up in a cage for 'disturbing the horses', I believe it was." The leader looked like she was on the brink of a discovery, but still no remembrance. "Gods, this really gets annoying." He growled.

"I think I might remember you." She said finally, and Percy started clapping slowly.

"Well done! Not exactly what I was hoping for, but still, improvement." He said, grinning. A few of the other Amazons chuckled. The leader arched an eyebrow. "Oh, come on! That's just insulting, man!" It arched higher. "I mean woman." He added hastily.

She shook her head. "I'm pretty sure I would've remembered you if you had been like this." She said.

Percy shrugged. "I was in a bit of a rush, back then, so the stupidity was sort of discarded. Mostly." He said. She nodded, frowning slightly. A few of the Amazons muttered to themselves, and others looked like they were trying not to laugh, but the leader never even cracked a grin. This would be fun. "I'm Percy, by the way." He said, sticking his hand through the bars. She took it warily, and Percy suppressed a wince. She had a really strong grip.

"Kinzie." She said.

"Kinzie." Percy repeated. "Nice name."

"I have a few questions for you Percy." Kinzie said.

"And I have a few answers, though whether or not I'll give them to you is yet to be seen." He said, pulling his arm back and massaging his wrist. Kinzie almost smiled at that, Percy was sure. "How about this: we both are curious about the other. So, I propose a compromise: a question for a question. For every question you I ask, I get to ask one. No lies, no dodging answers, straight-up truth. You cool with that?" he asked.

"You're pretty bad at this whole negotiating concept." Kinzie noted. Percy grinned.

"One of my many talents." He said.

"You're not really in the position to be dealing right now." Kinzie said.

"Yeah, but see, I'm really good at shutting up, surprising as that may seem. And to get me to talk, it will require moving me from the cage. And even though it's thirty to one, I'll still do something crazy and try to escape, which might or might not fail, and end up with a couple of us in a lot of pain. And repeat." Percy said, leaning casually against the bars of his cage.

"That remains to be seen, Percy." Kinzie said, arching an eyebrow.

Percy huffed. "That's just mean." He said, frowning at her.

She studied him for a few moments, while Percy waited patiently. "Well, I guess question time will have to wait then." She said, turning away.

"I'll be here 24/7 unless you change your mind." Percy called.

She stopped and added, "Oh, and about that new guard…Diana, think you can handle it?"

One of the Amazons grinned. "Of course, Kinzie." She said.

Kinzie nodded. "Marla, you've been relieved of guard duty." She said. Marla swallowed a bit nervously, picked up her spear, and followed them. Percy's new guard, Diana, walked over and watched him. After a minute or so of this, Percy began to feel a bit uncomfortable.

"Please tell me you're not just gonna stand there staring at me all day." He said after a minute. "Because if you will, I'm asking for Marla back." Diana grinned and tossed her shoulder-length cinnamon-colored hair over her shoulder, and Percy was suddenly shocked by how blue her eyes were. It was kind of unnatural.

That thought almost made him laugh. He lived in a world of gods and monsters. Next to that, really blue eyes were nothing. "You know, I do remember you." Diana said after a moment. Percy grinned.

"Thank the gods. I was about to say, I really need to work on my first impressions if caging me up wasn't enough to make you guys remember me, especially after the panic I caused when I broke out." He said.

"Yeah." Diana continued. "You threw a rope around my legs and left me hanging from a sixty-foot-high walkway for an hour."

Percy frowned, trying to recall his encounter. "I don't really remember that." he lied, the image coming unbidden to his mind.

Diana shrugged. "Doesn't matter anyway." She said. "Just do me a favor and if you try to break out again, which you no doubt will, don't hang me over the edge of the walkway again." She asked.

"Sure. Next time I'll just drop a box on top of you." He said nonchalantly. She shook her head slightly.

"Oh yeah, it's all coming back to me now." She said, and it didn't sound like a good thing.

"I have that effect on people." Percy admitted.

"Shut up." She said, raising an eyebrow and turning around and facing outwards.

"Okay, this is getting ridiculous." Percy said. "Either teach me how to do that or stop doing it around me." Diana laughed.

"Do yourself a favor and stop trying." She offered.

"Not happening."

Maybe two or three hours later, Kinzie came back, and this time alone. Percy stood up from his seat on an overturned bucket, nodding to her. "Have you decided to agree?" he asked.

Kinzie spoke to Diana. "Leave us." Diana nodded and went over to guard the stairs. Then Kinzie turned to Percy. "I have another idea: you tell us what we want to know, and we leave Arion alone."

Percy snorted. "Please, you wouldn't hurt Arion. I know. You had him captured for years and never really hurt him once. Besides, the question for a question is the only option I'll accept."

Kinzie sighed and rolled her eyes to the heavens, like _What am I gonna do with this guy?_ "Fine. A question for a question it is." She said, and Percy smiled.

"Alright then." he said. "Ladies first."

Kinzie nodded. "Why are you here?" she asked.

"To watch over four demigods who are going on a quest to stop the giant king which in fact was given to me by Athena herself." Percy said, all in one breath. Kinzie was a little surprised at his straight-forwardness. "My turn." Percy continued. "Why are you here?"

"The Queen sent us to hunt down a particularly troublesome monster that hasn't been overly friendly with the Amazons the past few months." Kinzie responded. Percy nodded.

"Understandable." He said.

"Now, what were you doing with our horse?" she asked. Percy snorted.

"Arion is a friend of mind, and he asked me to break him out while I was doing the same thing. And by the way, he's a free spirit, not belonging to anybody."

"Then why were you riding him?" she asked.

Percy held up his hand. "That's another question. Let me ask mine first." He couldn't help but smile inwardly as Kinzie ground her teeth together. "What monster are you chasing?"

"The Chimera." She responded. Percy winced.

"Good luck." He said sincerely.

"Alright, what were you doing riding Arion?" Kinzie asked.

"Simple. Arion and I are chums, so he helps me out from time to time." Percy said, sitting back down. "So, Kinzie, my next question is: why did you capture me?"

Kinzie wasn't expecting that question, so she wasn't sure how to answer it at first. "You were riding Arion, and we felt that he belonged to us. So naturally we assumed you were a thief."

"Well, that's all for today." Percy said.

Kinzie frowned down at him, but Percy could tell she knew the audience was over. "Diana, back to your post." She said. Diana jogged back, eyeing Percy a bit warily, before assuming a guard stance outside his cage. Percy was biding his time, waiting for the right opportunity. And he was in luck, because a coil of rope was nearby.

Another few hours passed, and most of the Amazons had fallen asleep. All except for Diana and a few sentries. Percy acted like he was asleep and waited until Diana turned away to watch the other Amazons. Standing as quietly as he could, he stood and slipped his hidden lock pick out of the top of his shoe. He inserted it into the keyhole and eased the door slowly open. Thank the gods it didn't have rusty hinges.

He slipped out of the cage, but something he did alerted Diana, who started to turn around. Percy lunged for her, putting her into a sleeper hold. Daedalus hadn't only taught him how to use weapons. She trashed around, trying to knock something over, but Percy held on tight. As a last-second effort, she threw herself backwards, slamming him into the cage. This loosened his hold just enough for her to headbutt him and break free.

"Help!" she yelled. Percy cursed and kicked her in the gut, knocking the air out of her lungs. But it was too late. The guards had seen and were charging up the stairs. Percy grabbed the rope coil. Tying one end around Diana's legs, he knotted the other in a quick but effective knot around the cage bars and shoved her over the edge. She screamed, but stopped about halfway down. The rope held.

Unfortunately, she had now woken all the Amazon's who hadn't been woken yet. And the guards had reached the catwalk. Percy needed to get down, and fast, before the rest knew what was happening, but those stairs were the only way down, and there were three fully armed warriors blocking the way. Percy leaned over the edge and saw Diana dangling there about ten feet above a pile of cardboard boxes. A crazy idea came to Percy's head, and he sighed. "I hate my life." He growled, and jumped.

Thank the gods those boxes were empty. He crashed down into them, rolling to the floor and surprisingly only getting a few bruises. Springing to his feet, he raced over to where Arion was tethered. _Oh yeah, Percy, help me!_ He said.

_I know, I know._ Percy growled mentally. Only a few Amazons stood in his way. One stepped forward, raising a sword. Percy caught her wrist and judo-flipped her over his shoulder. He was running before she even touched the ground. Another tried to stab him with a spear, but Percy kicked it out of her hands and punched her in the eye. The tried to get a round house kick, but he blocked it. _Come on, Perce, get her! Uppercut! Left jab! Try it, man. Go for the uppercut! _Arion called out encouragingly.

_Hey Arion?_ Percy said, tossing the Amazon to the ground.

_Yeah?_

_Shut the hell up_. Percy said, summoning his sword. He slashed through the rope that held Arion. The horse reared, thrashing the air with his legs. _Come on!_ Percy said, swinging on to his back. "Don't let them get away!" Kinzie yelled, running towards him. But Arion charged forward, knocking the warriors aside. He burst through the door and began running for the city.

"Yes!" Percy yelled, pumping his fist in the air. They were already far away from the Amazons, and he felt great. Until he saw the dragon falling from the sky.


	4. 4: Trapped

Chapter 4: Trapped

Leo wasn't having a good day. First, he had gotten left behind in Boreas's palace. Then the Boreads-Zethes and Cal- had almost revealed his fire secret. He could have lived with that. But when his dragon malfunctioned, that was the last straw.

They had been riding along, perfectly fine, somewhere above Detroit, when suddenly, Festus stopped moving. Leo leaned forward to check on him, but before he could, Festus began to drop. It was only slowly losing altitude, but then he hit one spot right below the clouds and dropped like a rock. Leo slipped off, frantically grabbing at air. "Not cooooooooooool!" he yelled. He heard the others yelling above him, but right then, he wasn't all too worried about them. He remembered his comment to Luke in Canada: "'Course it's safe, bro. But hey, if we end up plummeting a few thousand feet to our deaths, you have my permission to kill me." Wow.

He heard someone yelling his name and looked up. Luke was frantically waving for him to do…something. Leo shrugged, then returned to grabbing at air molecules. Something went hurtling past him, only to explode in a cloud of white right below Leo. It was a cushion. Leo hurriedly grabbed on and hugged it. Then he hit the roof.

There was a bone-rattling crash and Leo realized he had slowed down. A lot. The impact on the roof had nearly launched him off the giant cushion like a trampoline, but by sheer willpower he managed to hold on, probably dislocating his hands in the process. He landed with a crash somewhere inside the building he had hit, and that time he wasn't able to hold on. He bounced off to the left, rolling across a rough metal floor until he came to a stop fifteen feet away from his landing point.

He was glad he hadn't held on when Piper came crashing down directly on top of his cushion. He realized Annabeth and Luke had been on it too. It hit and bounced up, maybe halfway back to the roof, before touching down again and throwing the other demigods off. He heard multiple groans coming from that direction. "You guys alright?" Leo asked, struggling to his feet. His fingers were really sore, and he back ached from where he hit the floor.

He heard a cough, and then Luke called out, "Yeah, we're good." Leo staggered over to his cushion, falling on his knees atop it. Luke helped Annabeth to her feet. Piper sat up, holding her head. Leo looked up, seeing a jagged hole in the roof about twenty feet above them. He shivered.

"What are these things?" he asked.

"Sort of like parachutes, but apparently they don't work as well." Luke answered. "I grabbed them as soon as I realized we would be riding Festus." Usually Leo would have been insulted, but after what had just happened, he knew that wouldn't really be fair.

"Anyone know where we landed?" Annabeth asked, looking around.

"Somewhere in Detroit." Leo answered.

Annabeth nodded, seeming a bit distracted. He followed her gaze to see a logo on the wall. It read _Monocole Motors_ under a single, glowing red eye. For some reason, that seemed to make Annabeth nervous, but he didn't really pay it much attention.

"Leo, do you have any idea what happened to Festus?" Luke asked, an edge to his voice. Leo glared at him.

"No. Something might have happened with the wings, but I don't think that's the case." Leo said. He reached into his tool belt reassuringly. "I'll go check it out." Luke just grunted, but Piper looked genuinely worried.

"I don't know, Leo. This doesn't look safe." She said, looking around them.

Leo grinned at her, trying not to show how shaken up he was. "Nah, I'll be fine, beauty queen. Besides, I got a hammer and breath mints for any monster that comes along." He said, and began making his way down the stairs into the darkness. He reached the ground floor and looked around nervously. Something didn't seem right. He walked slowly, trying to make as little noise as possible. There was almost no light, but something caught his ear. He turned around just in time to see an ugly, one-eyed face and a fist come crashing down.

**Line Break**

Percy stopped at the doorway to the warehouse. Something told him that there were more than demigods inside, and not at all friendly. He slipped off Arion's back, telling him to stay quiet, and went inside. Trying hard not to breathe, he edged through the darkness, focusing on a glow of light nearby. He turned the corner and almost screamed.

Three massive Cyclops were sitting around a fire with a spit over it. Four shapes, cocooned in chains, were hanging upside-down nearby. All four were wriggling frantically. Percy's night vision had always been good, and he knew exactly what those four shapes were. His four charges.

One of the Cyclopses rose and went over to the demigods. They all had gags stuffed roughly into their mouths. "Can I take off the gags? I like it when they scream." He asked. The largest Cyclops, with its back to Percy, grunted in reply. The Cyclops took that as a yes. He ripped the gag out of the dark-haired girl's mouth. She didn't scream, though. Instead, she took a deep calming breath. "Why are you not screaming in terror?" the Cyclops asked. He was wearing a chain-mail loincloth, which must have been incredibly uncomfortable.

"Oh…" she faltered. "I am! But on the inside. I'm tied up too tight for me to get enough air to scream. Maybe if you loosened me, I'll be able to scream." The Cyclops must have stupid, because he began to unwrap the chains. The big Cyclops stood up, snarling.

"What are you doing, Sump, you idiot of a Cyclops!" it roared, and Percy choked. It was a _woman_! "She's trying to escape!"

Sump pouted. "But Ma, I like it when they scream." He whined.

"Gah!" The big Cyclops picked up a truck engine and slammed it down on top of Sump's head. The engine crumpled, dropping the Cyclops to his knees. He managed to push it off and stand up. Apparently he got hit by engines a lot.

The other Cyclops stood up, and he was wearing a strange-looking toga. "Can we eat them?" he said.

The girl went wide-eyed with terror. "Oh no, you don't want to eat us. We taste terrible." Sump scratched his head.

"Maybe we should let her go." He said. The other Cyclops nodded. But the big one snarled viciously.

"She's Aphrodite spawn, you fool!" she yelled. "She's charmspeaking you."

"But, I've already been-." The girl began, but the big one grabbed her.

"Bah! Don't try using your pretty voice into fooling me, girl! I've eaten heroes a hundred times tougher than you!" She shouted. She always seemed to be yelling. The other two Cyclops began backing up until they were back at the fire. The big one let the girl go and regarded her intently.

She coughed weakly. Percy began looking around the warehouse, to see if there was anything of use. The fire sat right under a crane arm. Maybe…. He stepped a little farther out into the light, regarding the crane arm, and heard the girl gasp. He almost cursed. He'd been too careless. Raising a finger to his lips, he pointed a finger and the Cyclops and drew a line across his throat. She understood and began trying to talk to the big Cyclops again.

Percy slipped off his pack and pulled an explosive knife out. He took a second one a tucked it into his belt. Then, he took another step, pressed the button on the pommel, and threw. It hit the crane arm and stuck. The light began flashing, and a quiet beeping began. "What was that?" the big Cyclops said, turning around just as the knife exploded.

With a shriek of metal groaning, it broke off from the rest of the arm and came crashing down. The two Cyclops around the fire looked up and saw a giant metal robotic arm crushed them. The hand hit the ground two feet from the Cyclops lady. Dust rose thickly, and the echo of the moaning metal lingered in the room. When the dust cleared, the lady Cyclops was staring at him, bloody murder raging in her eyes. "You busted my boys! Only I get to bust my boys!" she howled. Leaning over, she picked up a truck and threw it at him.

Percy threw himself in a roll to the side, narrowly avoiding the spinning Ram. It slammed into a bulldozer, causing a small explosion to erupt behind him. When Percy recovered, the big Cyclops was charging towards him. He ran behind a second crane, but she just shoved it out of the way. "Gah!" she bellowed. She turned and picked up the nearest heavy object- a motorcycle (really?)- and threw it overhand at him. He leaped out of the way to avoid the vertically spinning Harley of doom.

Turing, he found himself running right past the chained-up demigods. They were wriggling frantically, trying to escape. Percy stopped, facing the Cyclops. Enraged, she picked up a Chevy and prepared to throw it. Percy saw his chance. Drawing his second explosive knife, he threw it underhand while simultaneously pressing the trigger. It spun threw the air before sinking into the Cyclops's stomach. She grunted and removed her hands, realizing her mistake too late. The truck dropped on top of her head, flattening her. She groaned.

The knife exploded, flinging the truck off to one side. A pile of ash was spread widely in a circle on the ground. Breathing hard, Percy regarded the circle warily for a few moments, then went to go help the demigods down. The dark-haired girl, the only one without a gag, was staring at him, eyes wide with shock. Percy took Ashrow and severed the chains constraining her easily. Releasing the sword, he held out his arms and caught her before she could hit the ground. He then did the same with the others.

"How did you-that was-wow." The girl said.

The younger guy, with a curly dark hair and a crazy, mischievous grin on his face, stood up, looking at him with wonder. "What _were_ those things? Sticky grenades?" he asked.

Percy shook his head. "Explosive knives." He said, freeing the last demigod. He was tall, and had long, sandy-colored hair. Percy instantly didn't like him.

"Thanks." The boy said grudgingly. Percy just grunted. "Who are you?" the boy asked. Percy hesitated.

"I'm not sure it's a good idea to reveal that yet." He said.

The dark-haired girl walked up to him. "Don't be ridiculous." She said, sticking out her hand. "I'm Piper. This is Leo," she jerked her thumb at the curly-haired Latino with a crazy grin, "Annabeth," she pointed to the blonde girl, "and that's Luke."

Luke nodded his head once. Oh yeah. Percy definitely didn't like this guy. "What are you doing here?" Percy asked. Luke, tight-lipped, looked about to offer an angry retort, but Piper cut him off.

"Our dragon went down and we crash-landed here." She said. "Now, if you don't mind, what is your name?" Percy felt strongly compelled to answer, but he knew charmspeak when he felt it, and Daedalus had trained him against it.

"You're charmspeak won't work on me, Piper." He said, and she blinked. "Now, about that-."

Piper screamed, "Look out!" Percy spun, sword appearing in his hand, but a massive Cyclops backhanded him into a Chevy. He had just enough time to realize that it was the same Cyclops that he had dropped a crane on before he hit.

**Line Break**

Annabeth hadn't noticed the Cyclops reforming until they appeared behind the boy. Piper had seen them first, but it hadn't been enough. The two that the boy had smashed with the crane were standing right in front of her. So of course Annabeth did the stupid thing. She drew her dagger and charged.

Surprisingly, she found Luke and Piper beside her as she ran. "You guys keep them busy!" Leo yelled, running for the only remaining crane. Easier said than done. Luke charged the one with the chain-mail loincloth-Sump? - and she and Piper took the guy in the toga. He swung his fist, but Annabeth rolled to the side and stabbed it in the leg. Roaring, he tried to swat her away, but Piper slashed him in the side. He turned to grab her and Annabeth put her knife in its calf.

There was a loud smack, and suddenly Luke went flying past her to crash into a wall. "Luke!" she screamed. Before she realized it, she was flat on her back, her head spinning. She heard Leo yelling, then a noise that sounded like a smoke pellet exploding. Something took her by the waist and began raising her in the air. She saw Leo sitting in the crane and controlling the arm to smash Sump. Then she realized what had hold of her- Torque, the other Cyclops.

She screamed, and suddenly the mysterious boy was there, jumping atop the Cyclops's back. He rammed a knife in it and suddenly his sword was in his hand. It struck downward, hitting the top of the Cyclops's head. As soon as the blade touched, it disintegrated, turning to ash. She realized she was falling. Before she could scream, though, she landed hard upon something warm. That thing shifted and groaned under her. Opening her eyes, she found herself staring into the boy's eyes. They lay there, frozen, for a moment. His eyes were green like the sea.

Then a dazed voice called out, "Die, Cyclops!" Luke staggered forward, waving his sword sluggishly. He swayed on his feet, muttered, "I need some nectar.", and collapsed. Annabeth jumped up.

"Luke!" she cried out, and rushed over to help him. Piper brought over a flask of nectar, and he drank slowly, still dazed. By the time he was feeling well and was back on his feet, Annabeth turned around. The boy was gone. But she remembered those sea green eyes. Remembered…and wondered.


	5. 5: Fire

Chapter 5: Fire

Leo frowned at Festus, getting more and more annoyed. "Well?" Luke asked impatiently, arms folded. Leo gritted his teeth.

"I can't figure out what's wrong with him." He said. "The wings are fine, his tail is working perfectly, and the-oh." He said, a sudden thought occurring to him. He climbed on top of Festus again. He opened the dragon's head and his heart sank. "Oh, Festus, what the heck?" he muttered.

Something had caused a flash freeze inside Festus's head, screwing with the control disk. The enchanted Greek symbols were blackened and smudged around the edges. It was the one piece of equipment Leo couldn't fix, and it was broken- _again_.

Leo did what he could, though it took him a good ten minutes, but he finally reinstalled the control disk. Festus's eyes blinked back to life, and he lifted his head, looking around, confused. "Hey, buddy." Leo said, and Festus turned to face him, whirring his drill-bit teeth. Leo grinned. "How you holding up?" he asked. In response, Festus shook himself, spread his wings, and roared, blasting fire into the sky and stomping his feet. Nodding, he turned to his friends. "We're all set." He said. Luke shook his head nervously, backing away from Festus.

"I'm not getting on that thing." He said.

Annabeth touched his arm gently, though it seemed to Leo a bit reluctantly. "It'll be fine, Luke." She said, leading him towards Festus. Luke still looked apprehensive, but he climbed on anyway. Piper followed, looking fearfully at the warehouse behind them. Festus spread his wings once everyone was seated, and took off into the night sky. Luke was tired from getting thrown into a wall by a Cyclops, and before he knew it, he had slumped forward, sound asleep.

He opened his eyes, but nothing changed. The blackness was more…complete, now. More real. Luke knew this dream. It haunted his mind, tearing at it every night. No matter how hard he had tried to avoid it, it always came, night after night, and Luke began to fear sleep, for it was the worst part of his life.

There was nothing all around him. He didn't move, was afraid to move, because moving might mean falling, and falling would mean…. He shuddered, pulling his mind away from it. He wished they would let him _go_. But they wouldn't. Bitterly, he knew how much of what they had said was true. And they had something to hold against him, something he could never hope to conquer.

Before he had given it any thought, he took three steps forward. And plummeted. Darkness assaulted him, beating at his mind in waves. He could feel his body in the real world twisting and turning madly, trying to escape from the horrors of his dream. Forcing himself to calm down, he turned to confront the shadow he knew would be looming behind him.

But something was wrong. This time, there was no shadow. Luke's breath quickened. What was going on? Instead of the shadow, and single picture hung in the air. It was him. He could see himself, sleeping on the back of the dragon. Annabeth was behind him, watching him strangely. Luke's heart twisted in pain when he saw her. Did he love her? He didn't know, not anymore. Not since the acceptance.

But something was wrong with the picture. Frowning, he tried to find out what it was. Then he knew. The city underneath them burned, flames rolling over buildings, massive skyscrapers being dragged under, swallowed by the earth. Before long, they were flying over forest, uninhabited land. The flames followed them, consuming the woodland, rushing along behind them. Luke could feel his body temperature rising, feel it happening. He could feel the heat.

It took immense effort, but he finally managed to tear his eyes away from the terrible vision. And found the shadow waiting for him. "Do you see what is to come?" it asked softly, slowly. Luke stood, rage pouring through his body, facing the looming darkness.

"I see." He said, hand on his sword.

"You know what must be done." It was not a question. Luke snarled.

"I can't." he said, fingers clenching his sword hilt.

The shadow laughed. "You have no choice, Castellan. Remember the price." It said, shifting.

Luke took a few deep breaths. "You demand too much of me, I can't do this anymore!" he shouted. He felt something press against his mind, squeezing it until it began to crack.

"There is no other way." The shadow growled, and Luke faded away.

Percy followed the dragon a few hundred feet behind and below. He wasn't sure how he knew where it was, but somehow he could see it. Which was good, because he had no idea where they were going.

He didn't know what had made him disappear while they were treating the guy Luke. Maybe it was because Luke seemed like the kind of guy who would kick you in the balls for no good reason other than he felt like it. Maybe it was because he still didn't know them well. Maybe it was to keep his "mysterious shadow protector guy" image alive. Whatever it was, it was too late to stop now. They were a good thousand feet in the air, and he was not, and didn't have the means to get up there, or to get them down without killing them.

He was also increasingly certain the Amazons were tracking him, hunting for the dangerous monster and for Arion. Well, the monster they could have, but not Arion. _So what'd I miss?_ Arion asked.

_I went in there and kicked the crap out of a few Cyclops._ Percy said, shrugging mentally. _No biggie_.

Arion did a mental frown. _No biggie?_ He said incredulously. _You took on _three _Cyclops single-handedly and won! I'd say that's a biggie. Why do I miss all the good stuff?_

Percy patted the horse on the side of the neck. _It's probably because you're a horse._ He said.

Arion whinnied a very rude word and tossed his head. _Oh, I see. You're horse-racist!_

Percy shook his head quickly. _No, no, it's just that this world isn't as accommodating to horses as it is to humans_. He said. Arion didn't seem very convinced. _And besides, your hooves would have made too much noise on that floor. You might've given us away._

_Well, I guess your right…._ Arion said, eyes rolling up to the dragon. _So the rest of you non-demigods are horse-racist._ He concluded, nodding fiercely.

_Yep. Totally_. Percy thought, rolling his eyes.

_Are you sassing me?_ Arion growled mentally.

_Not a bit._ Percy said with a completely straight face. Arion seemed a bit suspicious, but returned to following the demigods. Percy let out a quiet sigh of relief. He'd managed to avoid crossing Arion. No matter how funny it may seem in principle, he was not in the mood for getting cussed out by a horse with serious ego issues.

The day night wore on. Percy ended up asleep on Arion's back. He hadn't even realized he was asleep until Arion stopped and shook him awake. Blearily, he sat up, looking around. They were in an alley in what looked like to be Chicago. _What the heck? Where are we?_ He asked.

He asked. _Yo, Perce, welcome to Chicago!_ Arion said, stamping a hoof from the cold. _You're buddies went down that sewer hole right there._ He pointed with his nose. Percy climbed off Arion's back and pulled a few golden drachmas from his pack.

_Here you go._ He said, holding them out to him. Arion snatched them up, eating them greedily. He let out a noise that could only be a burp.

_Yum._ He said. Percy glanced towards the sewer entrance.

_I get the feeling I'm gonna' be here a while. I'll call you when I need you._ He said. Arion whinnied in response and vanished. Percy went to the sewer warily. Poking his head in, he saw the four demigods resting. Percy silently slipped down the entrance, making no noise. For some reason, it seemed that all the gods had given him something of a gift at one point. He had performed a deed for each of them, and had almost gotten himself killed in the process too many times. He could of course control the water from his father, Poseidon, but he could grow plants incredibly fast thanks to Demeter, was a natural archer because of Apollo, and Hermes had given him incredibly fast reflexes and speed. Now, he used Hades' gift to wrap himself in shadow, concealing him from view. He crept silently down the tunnel and sat down, shadow wrapped around his body. He was far enough away that the fire they had couldn't reach him. For some reason, the blonde guy, Luke, looked over his shoulder, but didn't seem to see anything. Percy settled against the wall, content to wait them out. The Latino kid, Leo, pulled out some tacos, which reminded Percy he hadn't eaten since he left, which was yesterday. Digging around the pack, he pulled out a loaf of bread and a granola bar. It wasn't much, but it would have to do. Eventually, they all curled up and passed out, and Percy took the opportunity to sneak in and grab an extra taco.

Luke woke suddenly, jerking against the wall. Somehow he managed to sleep, even after his nightmare a few hours before. His dreams had been…empty. It was terrifying, more so than his usual nightmare. The calm before the storm.

Piper and Leo slowly woke, stretching their tired, cramped muscles. Annabeth groaned softly, rolling over and bumping into Luke. She sat up, looking around a bit confused. "You guys ready?" Luke asked, looking back towards where they had come. It almost seemed like something was over there…. Dismissing it as his imagination, he stood, cracking his neck. "Let's go." He started off towards the other direction. He could hear the others following. They had walked for a long time before finally coming to stop in front of a set of big double doors, with a large _M _on them.

"For Macy's?" Leo wondered, looking around nervously.

Piper frowned. "Do they even have those in Chicago?" she asked.

"Or entrances in the sewer?" Annabeth put in. Luke rolled his shoulders nervously.

"Only one way to find out." He opened the doors to see an elevator. "When in doubt, start at the top." He said, and pressed the fourth floor button. When the elevator came to a stop, it opened to chaos.

Leo knew something was wrong as soon as the doors opened. The shop was in ruins, smoking clothes racks everywhere. A ton of potion-like things were scattered around everywhere. Yells echoed up from below the balcony. A bright red light lit up the wall. "What the heck?" Annabeth exclaimed, and they ran to the railing as one. Peering over, they saw a scene out of a nightmare.

A bunch of female warriors-were those Amazons? - battled with a massive, three-headed beast that could only be the Chimera. A woman on the floor below them was screaming in rage. As they watched, the sun dials on the floor opened, and two big, yellow dragons crawled out. They all looked at one another. "Bad." Piper said, and they ran down the nearby escalators to fight. Leo grabbed two three-pound hammers with head shaped like potatoes as he ran, almost causing himself to drop down to the third floor. When they got the bottom, he was immediately rewarded with a blast of fire to the wall a few feet to the right and an Amazon thrown into him.

"Ow." Leo groaned, pushing her off him. Shaking his head, he saw Leo and Piper taking on the Chimera with a bunch of Amazons, while Annabeth and the rest of the women were attacking the dragons. Leo ran forward and smashed a hammer on the top of one of the dragon's head before it was able to rip off an Amazon's arm. She crawled away, moaning. The dragon shook its head and hissed at him, glowing eyes narrowing in annoyance. "Bad lizard." Leo said, and swung his hammer from below. The dragon got tossed back and up, landing awkwardly on its back. Shaking its wings out, it rolled to its feet and blasted Leo with fire. Leo stood calmly, letting the fire wash over him.

When the blaze ended, he stood there unharmed. The dragon looked at him, like, _Why aren't you dead?_ Leo simply grinned and threw his hammer. The dragon was getting smart, though, and it dodged and came at him tooth-and-claw. That was when it started to get nasty.

It slashed quickly, and Leo barely managed to dance away. Those razor-sharp claws ripped a good-sized slash along the side of his shirt. He sprang backwards, a mere centimeter away from the dragon's claw. Rolling to the side, he tried to by himself some time by chucking a wrench at it. It smacked the dragon in the face, but didn't even faze it. Leo cursed and hurled himself to the left, crashing into an Amazon.

The pair rolled over each other, before Leo came to a stop crouched. She sprang to her feet, spun around, and slashed downwards with a sword. It cut a nick in the dragon's nose. The dragon snorted in pain, but kept coming. Before either of them had time to react, it sprang on top of her, mouth open wide.

Leo did the first thing he could think of: he shoved a monkey wrench in its mouth. The dragon bit down, but the vertical monkey wrench held it fast. He then proceeded to smash it in the side of the head with the biggest hammer he could procure. The dragon roared in pain, spitting out the wrench and turning to Leo. But the Amazon darted in from the right and jabbed it in the neck. Hissing, it rounded on her, and Leo hit it on one toe. The dragon wailed and hit him in the chest with its tail, bowling him over. He hit something furry and felt something else sink into his shoulder. Crying out, he grabbed the thing, turning his head to see that it was a massive snake. The Chimera's tail.

Percy opened the doors of the elevator with his sword in hand. When nothing jumped out at him, he stepped cautiously out of the small metal box. Then a loud roar echoed from somewhere nearby, and he jumped. A bright light lit up the wall over the balcony, and someone yelled from below, followed by another roar. Percy ran forward and looked over the railing.

Two sun dragons were attacking a bunch of Amazons and the four demigods. Blinking, he realized there was also the Chimera. He inspected the battlefield for a few moments, gauging how the fight would go if he stayed back. He decided: not good. Sun dragons were tough; he had brought back the head of one for Apollo once, and it had left him a nasty scar along his side. And of course, the Chimera was no small feat. That thing could probably kill at least half of the people down there before they got it under control.

The deciding factor was when he saw the blonde girl, Annabeth, get pinned underneath one of the sun dragons. No one was close enough to help, so he flipped his grip on Ashrow, muttered, "I hate my life.", and jumped over the balcony railing.

Most people would've died falling thirty feet onto concrete. Percy just got hurt. A lot.

He came down on top of the sun dragon, driving Ashrow through its back and cracking the floor. The force of it sent Percy tumbling backwards a good ten or twenty feet. He groaned, feeling at his shoulder. It was definitely fractured, and maybe broken, but there was no time to tell. Gritting his teeth, he stood, facing the second sun dragon. He tapped his fingers together, and Ashrow appeared in his uninjured arm. Thank the gods Daedalus had made him train with his left hand as well as his right.

Leaving his right arm hanging loose, he charged the second sun dragon. It hissed and blew fire at him, but he released Ashrow and summoned his shield a fraction of a second before the fire hit. It rolled off the shield in waves, the heat making Percy wince, but he plowed through it. He reached the sun dragon and slammed it in the chin with his shield. Summoning Ashrow, he whirled around, once, twice, three times. The dragons disembodied head rolled away.

He looked up to see half a dozen Amazons and Annabeth watching him in shock. "We should probably help." Percy said, pointing his sword at the Chimera. They understood and attacked. He went over to Annabeth. "Are you all right?" he asked.

"Fine, I'm fine." She said, looking him intently in the eye. "What are you doing here?" she asked.

"Trying to keep everyone alive." He grumbled in response, and charged the Chimera. Sword in hand, he threw himself at the beast with such ferocity that it was momentarily caught off guard. Hacking with his sword, he managed to score a good slash across its lion head before he got hit in the chest by the goat and knocked away. Falling, he grunted in pain as he landed on his shoulder.

Shakily, he realized that another one of the demigods was lying nearby, face down and unnaturally pale. There was a blood-curdling mix of roar, hiss, and bleat as one of the Amazons got her spear down its throat. Percy went over and hacked at the dust motes until it was all ash. Wincing, he dropped the sword and clutched his shoulder. A cry brought him over to where Piper knelt over Leo, holding him nervously. "Something's wrong!" she said. Percy came close and saw bite marks on his shoulder. He swore loudly.

"He's been bitten by the snake head." He said. "That's one of the most deadly toxins known to demigods, other than pit scorpions. Get him some nectar and ambrosia, quick!" Annabeth dug around her pack before holding out a baggie of ambrosia and a bottle of nectar. Uncorking the lid, she poured some nectar into his mouth, which woke him with a cough. She held out two squares of ambrosia, which he gobbled down greedily. It wouldn't be enough. "I know someone who can help him, but he lives in Wichita, Kansas. We have to hurry." He said. Luke stepped forward, eyes narrowed.

"Hold on a minute, how can we trust you?" he asked. "How do we know you're not lying about this guy you're talking about?"

Annabeth stood up and faced him, angry. "Do you have a better idea, Luke?" she asked. Luke looked a bit hurt.

"Well, no…." he said weakly.

Annabeth nodded fiercely. "Exactly. Besides, he saved our lives from those Cyclops and now he saved mine again from that sun dragon. We have to trust him. Look at Leo. In case you haven't noticed, he's _dying_." Luke looked abashed.

Annabeth turned to Percy. "Who are we going to see?" she asked.

Percy took a deep breath. "Asclepius, god of medicine." One of the Amazons, whom Percy recognized as Kinzie, groaned.

"What's so bad about him?" Piper asked, standing up. Kinzie shook her head.

"I'll leave this one to you guys. Asclepius and I…we don't get along very well." she said, turning away.

"Hey, Kinzie." Percy called out. She looked over her shoulder. "Leave Arion alone."

Kinzie grinned. "Sorry, Percy, but I can't do that." With that said, she ran up the escalator, followed by her Amazons. Percy muttered an uncomplimentary word at their retreating backs.

"What was that all about?" Luke asked, watching them go.

Percy grunted. "Nothing. We have to get Leo out of here. Where's your dragon?" Just then, the roof exploded, and the named dragon came flying down to meet them. "Found him." Percy muttered.

"What are you gonna' do?" Annabeth asked.

"I'm flying you guys to Wichita. By the way, you'll have to deal with Asclepius alone. And don't mention my name."

"Why?" Piper asked.

Percy couldn't help but grin. "He has an overly fondness for crabcakes."


	6. 6: Poison

Chapter 6: Poison

Percy held Leo in place from behind as they soared through the air a thousand feet off the ground. He dipped his fingers in his water bottle and touched the wound. It was helping to hold off the poison, but it wasn't permanent. He cursed silently, looking up, hoping they would reach Asclepius in time.

Festus was lagging under the weight of so many passengers. Leo drove, while Piper was trying to figure out how to fly the dragon, while sat behind her. Leo was in front of Percy, and Annabeth was behind him.

For some reason, that made Percy really nervous. Something about her messed with his head. To be honest, part of him was scared of her. He had not a single clue why (well, maybe a little) but that was how it was. Shaking his head, he tried to focus on keeping Leo alive. "Where are we?" he asked Piper.

Annabeth was the one who answered, though. "I'm pretty sure we just passed over Jefferson City." She said. Percy cursed loudly, causing a small choking noise to come from Piper.

"That's only halfway!" He said, pounding his thigh with his fist. "He's running out of time. I'm not sure how much longer I can keep him alive."

"Why do you care so much?" Luke said angrily, turning to face him. "What made you do this for us?"

Percy stared him down. "If only you knew." He said softly. Luke looked like he was about to say more, but just then, Piper spoke up.

"I would try to press for more speed, but Festus already seems strained to his limit. Besides, I don't think he'll stay in air long." She shot a withering look at Luke, who silenced with a look on his face like he'd just taken a bite of a thirty-pound lemon. Annabeth shifted behind Percy, making him uncomfortably aware of how close she was.

""If he's going to be saved, we might need to lighten the load." Percy muttered to himself, bringing another stream of water to Leo's wound. "If only Arion were here…."

"I heard you mention him to the Amazons. Who is he?" Annabeth asked him.

"A horse." He could almost see her blink in surprise. "One that can run at super-sonic speeds and has a really bad addiction to cussing." She made a small sound in the back of her throat.

"A horse." She repeated blankly.

"Yep." He responded.

"Runs at super-sonic speeds and has a _cussing _problem?"

Percy frowned. "Isn't that what I just said?" he said.

"It's just…" she faltered, thinking of the right thing to say. "I don't…know of many horses…that can do that." She finished.

"Neither do I. He's special. By the way, if you ever meet him, be nice. If you're mean, he'll call you a lot of names, consider you a horse-racist, and try to kill you."

"Horse-racist?" Piper choked.

"Apparently all regular mortals are an example." Percy said matter-of-factly.

"Great. Not only is he a stalker and a potential traitor, he's also completely insane." Luke muttered, too quiet for most people to hear. But Percy's face hardened.

"Watch your tongue, dead weight. I'm not nearly as far gone as you might think." He warned.

"_Dead weight!?_" Luke exclaimed, twisting to face him with a hand on his sword hilt. "Listen to me, fish-breath. I've done more things than you could ever dream of. I've fought Titans, slain the Minotaur, killed Medusa, and saved the gods from the lord of time. Don't you go calling me dead weight!"

Percy tried and failed to raise his eyebrow. "Oh really. Have you fought an entire pod of sea serpents with your bare-hands? Have you killed two sun dragons single-handedly? Did you fight both of Medusa's sisters-_twice_- and win both times? Did you hunt down an entire clan of Laistrygonians and kill every last one? Did you save North Carolina from a couple of massive, blood-thirsty drakons? Well, I have. I seem to have done more dangerous stuff, put my life in danger more than you ever will. How many times have you nearly gotten killed to save someone else? Because so far, I'm starting to think you'd rather let them die to save your own skin!" He hadn't realized he was yelling until he fell silent. Everyone had stopped whatever they had been doing and was staring at him in shock, mouths hanging open. Luke looked about ready to explode. Leo shifted about, muttering in pain, and Percy temporarily healed him again.

"Listen here, Percy." Luke practically spat his name. "I don't care how many monsters you've killed. _I_ was the one who killed Kronos! I fought at Manhattan! I was the one who saved the gods and the world!"

"But did you do it because you had to?" Percy wondered aloud. Luke's face colored, and his fist clenched so tight Percy thought he might pop a vein or three.

"Of course I did! I wouldn't let the world fall into ruin if I could do anything about it!" he snarled.

Percy had a gut feeling that he was lying. "It seems to me that so far on this quest, you almost got killed by the North Wind-probably because he knew how much of a jerk you are- you got knocked out by the Cyclops, and I'm pretty sure that was you who stood back from the Chimera while Amazons and the others here almost died to keep that thing contained." Luke's face paled, though whether from anger or fear Percy couldn't tell. "And you weren't the only one who had a hand in the battle at Manhattan. I fought off a huge swarm of monsters coming in from the Bronx. While most of the Titan's army was centered in attacking the Empire State Building, I destroyed a company of monsters coming in as reinforcements. Therefore, even though I didn't know it, I saved your life!" Luke opened and closed his mouth several times, not a sound coming out. "So yeah, I think I will stick with dead weight." Percy finished. He then went back to healing Leo.

The next half-hour passed in silence. Piper kept on regarding him shrewdly, looking back over her shoulder from time to time. Luke stared at the sky ahead of them, back straight as an iron rod. And Annabeth…Percy could feel her eyes drilling into his back throughout the whole ride. He didn't think they even blinked. Oh yeah, and Leo tossed and turned, trying not to die, completely oblivious to the entire world. Fun.

About two more hours later, Leo moaned loudly, nearly rolling off of Festus's back. Percy took the last bit of water he had and held it to Leo's wound, but he didn't quiet. Instead, he began to groan louder, rolling around in front of Percy. Percy swore. "Are we almost there? We're running out of time! I think the poison is finally reached his heart."

Piper looked back at him, face showing worry. "You see those lights? That's Wichita. We've almost made it!" She urged Festus to go a bit faster, and he obeyed. Within a few seconds, they were flying over the city.

"There." Percy said, pointing to a tall building. Luke frowned uneasily. There was a vacant helicopter pad on the roof, on which Festus stopped. They climbed off as quickly as they could, taking Leo and brining them to the door that led down deeper into the tower. They walked for a bit down a cold hallway before coming to a door. Piper opened it a crack and peered out, but apparently she didn't see anything bad, because she stepped out. Percy and Luke, who held Leo, followed.

They continued down a set of stairs-nearly dropping Leo to the first floor when he gave a violent shudder. "Come on, come on." Percy muttered to himself. The opened another doorway and found themselves in a long hallway full of offices.

"You!" a high-pitched, nasal voice exclaimed. They turned to see a middle-aged man rushing towards them, looking not happy whatsoever. "Nope! No way! Not happening! No demigods allowed on through the helipad doors! What happened to security?" He reached a finger to the earpiece in his ear, tapping it a few times. "Hello? Security? Yes, I have a- no, Caleb, I'm _not_ reporting in another squirrel attack. And please, those things had rabies! Anyway, we have some intruders who came in- no; it isn't the pizza guy again! A bunch of demigods came in through the…shut up! You know what? I'll deal with it myself!" Removing the finger, he began to regard the group, looking them up and down.

"Please, sir, we need you to tell us where Asclepius is. Our friend is dying from Chimera poison." Piper pleaded.

The man frowned at Leo. "Yes dear, I'm well aware of what a Chimera wound looks like. And by the way, at this rate, I'd say your friend has about…oh, ten minutes or so left to live." He said, discarding the matter almost immediately. Piper choked. Percy, growing nervous, tried to step behind Luke and Annabeth.

"Well, are you going to help us?" Piper asked. The man regarded Leo shrewdly.

"Maybe. It depends on who you are, and whether or not Asclepius is in a good mood." He said. Percy turned to get a look at the incredibly interesting blank wall behind them.

Too late. "Oh, no you don't." the man practically screeched. "Percy Jackson, _please_ tell me you weren't stupid enough to come back here!" Piper choked again, and the others looked at him with wide eyes.

Percy winced. "Uh…you must have the wrong guy." He said, lowering his voice in attempt to disguise it. It didn't work.

"I cannot believe you had the nerve to come back here after what you did the last time!" the man yelled.

"Look, Mikel, I already told you I didn't mean-." Percy began, but Mikel cut him off rudely. And loudly.

"Caleb!" he yelled into his earpiece. "Security breach! Percy Jackson is back! No, it isn't the same pizza guy, it's the real deal! Get security down here _NOW_!" Percy uncovered his ears.

"Well, you haven't changed a bit." He grumbled. Mikel was still fuming at him, arms crossed. "Nice to see you too, dude."

Mikel looked about ready to jump up and down on his earpiece. "Why in the name of Zeus almighty have you come back here?" he asked through clenched teeth.

"Oh, you know, I just got a quest from Athena to watch over these demigods because they're on an unbelievably important quest to save the world and all. I see you repaired the hole I blew up last time. And the rest of the building." Percy said nonchalantly.

"You're name is…Percy Jackson?" Annabeth said weakly. Percy nodded, leaning up against the wall. Around the corner came four metal men, each armed with swords. Percy whistled.

"I see you also took the opportunity to step up security." Percy said, regarding the automatons.

"Kick him out."

**Line Break**

Annabeth watched the boy- Percy- get picked up by the four automatons and bundled through the door back up the helipad. "Put me down!" he yelled. "I'll blow this place up again!" They just kept moving.

Mikel turned to face them, face grim. "So…" Piper said slowly as Percy's shouts faded down the hallway. Finally, they heard a door open and an annoyed, "Hey!" before the automatons came back down the hall. "Can you help us now?" Mikel looked at them with narrowed.

"No." he said. Piper began to protest, but he held up his hand. "But I will take you to see Asclepius." He turned and led them through the maze of offices until they came to a very large one with _Dr. Asclepius _written on it. "Through here." He said, opening the door. A man looked up from behind a writing desk, pen dropping from his hand. "Is now a good time, sir?" Mikel asked.

The man sighed and stood. "When is it ever?" he asked, his voice sounding a remarkable lot like Apollo's. "Who are these people?" he asked.

Piper stepped forward. "I am Piper. This is Luke Castellan, son of Hermes, and Annabeth Chase, daughter of Athena." She said. Was it Annabeth's imagination, or did Luke tighten when Piper named his father?

"And who's the one with the Chimera venom a few minutes away from killing him?" he asked.

"Oh, right. That would be Leo, son of Hephaestus." Piper said. "Would you do us a favor and heal him?"

Asclepius regarded them emotionlessly. "First, you'll have to tell me how you demigods got here and why you're here." He said. So Piper explained it. It only took two minutes or so to explain, but Annabeth was actually sweating by the time Piper finished. Leo looked like a nightmare.

Asclepius waved his hand and Leo gasped, sitting bolt upright and eyes opening wide. From his shoulder, a strange, purple vapor emerged. Asclepius waved his hand again, and the vapor disappeared into a glass vial. Leo sat there, clutching his shoulder and looking at them, confused. "What the…what happened?" he asked, shuddering.

"Chimera poisoning. We had to fly to Kansas to make sure you didn't die." Luke said. Leo groaned.

"That explains why I fell like crap." He said, closing his eyes. Annabeth cracked a grin. Leo was back.

Asclepius was watching them intently. "Um, sir?" Annabeth asked. Asclepius nodded. "What exactly happened between you and…Percy?"

Asclepius's eyes flashed. "It's simple really. He came flying into my building with a pack of hellhounds on his tail, a good fifty or so of them. That idiot knocked over a rather explosive product, and we lost the top couple of floors. Somehow, no one got hurt. But I still am not very happy with him right now." He said.

"Oh." She said. Luke called to her.

"Annabeth, we should probably go. We still need to get to…you know." He said. She nodded.

"Sorry, Lord Asclepius, we must leave." She said. Asclepius simply slumped down at his desk, taking up his pen again.

"Follow me." Mikel said quietly.

**Line Break**

They found Percy on the roof of the building, arms crossed and looking quite annoyed. "'Bout time." He grumbled. Mikel regarded him warily and angrily.

"I trust I'll never have to see you here again, Mr. Jackson?" Mikel asked. Percy frowned at him.

"Screw you. I'm outta here." He said, hopping onto Festus. Mikel frowned at Percy, but before he could say anything, the rest of the demigods climbed on, and Festus was flying away.

**A.N. : Hey guys! I finally figured out all of those authors' notes were actually a part of the document, so…whoops! Yeah, kind of embarrassing. Anywho, thank you for your support and your views. Sorry about taking so long to write this, I had school stuff and…well, you guys know how it is. Also, I would really like you guys to check out a new story I'll be working on for a while. It's called Wolf of the Seas, and I would appreciate it if you guys checked it out. Thanks!**


	7. 7: Nightmares

Chapter 7: Nightmares

Percy looked down at the city of Wichita receding behind them. He was still mad at Mikel for having him tossed out onto the roof by four metal automatons and left there for a good twenty minutes. Sure, he probably deserved it for blowing up almost the entire building, but that was no way to treat a guest. Well, he wasn't exactly a guest. More like an intruder. But still, that was downright rude.

Percy had spent the last half an hour or so getting to know everyone better. He asked them questions, and answered theirs about his past freely. He needed these people to trust him. If they didn't, then the quest- and their lives- were at risk.

He almost laughed. So far, in about two days, they had almost been eaten by massive Cyclops, gotten scorched to death by sun dragons, and poisoned by the Chimera. Their lives were definitely already at risk.

He learned that Piper's dad was Tristan McLean, the famous movie star. She had seemed relieved when he didn't make a big fuss about it. Actually, all he'd said was: "Cool." She'd looked really happy at that. Most people probably fawned all over her when they found out that. But really, your family really didn't matter. You did.

Leo was the comedian, that was obvious from the beginning. He spent probably ten minutes just cracking joke after joke before he actually told Percy anything. He found out about his fire powers, and his mother's death. He learned about him running from orphanage to orphanage, never staying in the same place. He understood. For years, before Athena had found him, he had been living in the streets. He never knew his mom, so Leo's was worse, but he could connect.

Annabeth had lived with a father and stepmother for ten years. They had always treated her differently, and eventually she had run away. She had met Luke while she was on the run, along with a daughter of Zeus named Thalia. They had been on the run from monsters before they found a satyr named Grover. Grover had led them to Camp Half-Blood, but the monsters had caught up, and Thalia had been turned into a pine tree to save them.

Luke barely said a word the whole time, but had been watching the ground pass below them. Percy was fine with that. He really didn't want to know his story.

Leo asked Percy about his life, and Percy was glad to tell them. He explained how he had been running since the age of six, before Athena discovered him four years later. She had delivered him into Daedalus's care, who had trained him since then in almost every weapon made. Swords, axes, spears- you name it, he'd fought with it. He'd even learned how to shoot a gun. He told them how he'd gone on random quests throughout his life. They were really interested in how he'd fought a massive drakon that had ended up destroying Asclepius's tower. He'd explained how he'd fought off a massive army that had tried to invade New York from the north and had suffered mortal wounds from the leaders: Stheno and Euryale, Medusa's two sisters. Only Daedalus's skill as a healer had saved him.

Eventually, they ran out of life stories to share- at least, the ones they were willing to. They had been surprisingly open, and Percy hadn't even meant to spill everything, but it felt good to talk to someone other than Daedalus. But that didn't mean he'd told them everything.

Unconsciously, he felt his forearm, rubbing it and feeling to tiny indentations lining it.

Piper and Luke fell asleep nearly simultaneously, leaving Leo driving and Percy and Annabeth sitting in the back. This time, Percy was in the way back, and he was uncomfortably aware of how close Annabeth was to him. He tried to focus on anything other than her. But his thoughts kept wandering to her. Eventually, he had to break the ice or the silence would kill him.

"So…," he began, "you used to live in Virginia?"

"Yep." She said emotionlessly.

"Was it…pretty?" he asked weakly.

"Moderately." She answered, and that efficiently ended to conversation. After a few minutes of awkward silence, he tried again.

"Do they still live there?" he asked.

"No. We moved to San Francisco a few years ago." She said. I winced.

"Really? Right near Mt. Tam?" I said.

"Unfortunately. It's an…interesting place to live, even if I rarely visit. And then of course, there's Zoe…." She trailed off, lost in thought. He wondered who Zoe was.

"Zoe?" he asked.

"Yeah. She used to be a Hunter. She came with us on a quest to rescue Artemis, but the Titan Atlas…he killed her." She said softly.

"Oh." Percy said awkwardly. He didn't apologize. He knew from experience that sorry always felt empty. You really needed someone who would listen, who you could just let your feelings out to.

"Why don't you get some sleep." She said leadenly. "You look tired."

"Yeah." He agreed, leaning backwards. He didn't think she would like it if he used her as a pillow. Closing his eyes, he tried to lull his mind to sleep, though he felt to hard-wired to sleep. But to his surprise, he fell asleep almost instantly.

He was floating in a room underwater. It was empty, but there were beds everywhere, and it looked like the strangest barracks he'd ever seen. Turning around, he saw an open door. He swam out and found himself in the middle of a throne room. On the floor was a massive mosaic showing what was probably the outside. Life-like depictions of mermen were moving around on it. He recognized this place. This was Poseidon's palace.

"You came." A familiar voice said behind him. Steeling himself, he turned around to see Poseidon standing behind him; trident held lazily, pointed upwards. He looked just like he had three years ago, in Bermuda shorts, a Hawaiian button-up t-shirt, and sandals.

"Dad." Percy said emotionlessly.

His face seemed to fall, just a bit, before he returned to normal. "For a few hours, I don't think you'd come." He said.

"And I wish I hadn't." Percy spat.

"Will you just hear me out?" Poseidon pleaded.

"Why should I?"

"You know I didn't want this to happen." He sighed.

"But it's your fault anyway." Percy growled.

"How was I supposed to know?"

"You could have helped me!"

"No I couldn't! There are limits to a god's power."

"Even healing from the brink of death? Instead, Daedalus had to go and do _this_!"Percy lifted his arm, showing Poseidon.

He lowered his head. "I never wanted it to happen." He said quietly. Percy dropped his arm to his side, still smoldering his anger.

"Yet it still happened." He said. "I'm sorry. I really should be mad. You were preoccupied. I just…it's so _terrible._ I don't know how Daedalus can stand it."

"I don't either. I would have helped you if I could." Poseidon said. Percy's head hung, tears threatening to come from his eyes. He forced them down and looked up.

"So why am I here?" he asked.

"I know what will happen on your quest. There are two ways it can go down, and neither is really that good. But one is definitely better than the other."

"I'm listening."

"Back before Atlantis was sunk in the Abyss War, Atlas ruled over it."

"Hang on," Percy interrupted. "Atlas the Titan?"

"No," Poseidon said. "Atlas, my demigod son. He ruled over the ten kingdoms of Atlantis as King and Overlord. But he couldn't do that without help of armor, armor I had had the best Cyclops smiths spend years on. It's stronger than titanium, light as a feather, and can be suspended in reality to be called to the wearers' body instantly. The Seafoam Armor.

"Atlas is the only mortal to have ever worn the Seafoam armor. When he died, it was cast into the Sea of Monsters."

"And it's still there?" Percy asked.

"Yes. Only one who can even find it, much less defeat the guardian, can wear it." Poseidon said.

"And I need to find it, or I'll end up dead." Percy guessed.

"Precisely." Poseidon admitted.

"But I need to stay to protect the others." Percy protested.

"They'll be fine. Besides, if you don't find the Seafoam armor, you'll all end up dead." Poseidon countered.

"Oh." Percy said weakly.

"I can't give you much advice, but I can say this: you'll find it on an island at these coordinates: 16, 57, 98, and 75." He continued.

"Got it." Percy said, taking those numbers and committing them to memory.

"And one more thing." Poseidon amended. "The guardian…it will be like nothing you have ever faced, or will face most likely. It truthfully shouldn't be alive. I don't know what it really is, but one thing is for sure: it is not Greek."

_It is not Greek._ Those words were the scariest ones he'd ever said.

"Then what-?" Percy began, but suddenly he felt something tear at his head.

Poseidon had a look of surprise, then horror on his face. "Percy!" he yelled. Percy shook his head, lost amid a sea of fog. In front of him, a massive crag of rocks loomed. Something stood along the strip of beach that lay in front of the boulders. The rocks themselves disappeared into the fog, but what he could see was jagged edges that looked incredibly dangerous.

But his eyes were drawn to the figure standing on the beach. Shadows wrapped around it, making it hard to see. It looked vaguely humanoid, but something was definitely not right. There was only one physical feature visible: eyes. They burned straight through the shadow surrounding it, ancient, endless pits of black that drew all light into them. And they were staring straight at him.

It didn't move, and Percy knew that it was waiting for him. And he was certain of one more thing.

This was the guardian.

Annabeth exhaled a huge sigh of relief when Percy fell asleep. "Nervous, wise girl?" Leo asked, cracking a stupid grin.

She stared at him. "Shut up." Leo laughed and went back to driving Festus. Annabeth rode for a while, lost in thought. Eventually, Percy began to shift around behind her, and she caught her breath nervously. He kept moving, and began to mutter under his breath. At one point she thought she heard him say something like "…your fault…" but she couldn't be certain.

Then he fell still, and she let out the breath she'd been holding. Only then did she realize it didn't seem like he was breathing either. She turned around and felt along the side of his neck, feeling for a pulse. There was nothing.

"Percy?" she said worriedly. Nothing. "Percy?" she said again, more urgently. Still no reply. "Percy!" she yelled, shaking his shoulder.

"What's wrong?" Leo asked, turning around.

"It's Percy! I think he's-." she began, but Percy jerked in her hands.

"OH GOD!" he screamed, and Festus dropped. Something flew over Annabeth's head and smashed into Percy's chest, and the straps that held him in were broken like they were toilet paper. Percy was thrown backwards and disappeared into the clouds. Piper and Luke woke with a scream, and then Festus exploded.


End file.
